'Torchwood' John Barrowman: 'Jack not a gay stereotype'

Torchwood star John Barrowman has claimed that his character Jack Harkness is not a gay stereotype.

The actor told The Daily Telegraph that he believes he plays an "unconventional hero" in the sci-fi drama.

"If you look at television right now, America has the most gay characters on television in any country but what I don't agree with is that a lot of them are all stereotypes," argued Barrowman. "What I love about Jack is that he's not a stereotype."

Barrowman also confirmed that the omnisexual Jack only has sex with men in new ten-part series Miracle Day.

"People who watch this series will think he's completely gay," he explained. "It was completely [showrunner] Russell [T Davies]'s choice to do that, to make an impact, to stir things up a bit. That's more so for the States than [the UK]."

In addition, Barrowman claimed that Jack's sexuality was not remarked upon during his time on Torchwood's parent series Doctor Who.

"I remember when I kissed The Doctor in Doctor Who [and] it didn't even make the headlines," he said. "Nobody even bothered about it.

"It was only when Jack had his own spinoff show and he was saying that he was omnisexual, and that he would have sex with anything with a postcode that people started [noticing]. So it's how you deal with it that makes it sensational."

Torchwood: Miracle Day continues on Fridays at 9/8c on Starz in the US and on Thursdays at 9pm on BBC One in the UK.